The Even Darker Side
by It'sVeryDarkInHere
Summary: What if the troubles we saw Azula's trio struggle with in the series were only the tip of iceberg? TRIGGER WARNING
1. Prologue by Ty Lee

_{Hi everybody, it's me, your average wayward author. This story is going to be dark, so here is your very final TRIGGER WARNING. Now that that's over with, I'll explain how this will work: it's going to be written in rotating perspectives by Ty Lee, Mai, and Azula, in that order. You're going to get a short introduction from each girl and then the real story will pick up. I'll check in on you now and again, but nothing so long again, I promise. Sayonara!}_

Growing up with siblings is tough, period. Growing up with six identical sisters is even harder. It's like living in a look-alike contest every day of your life with no way out. So, understandably, I've been trying to find my own identity since birth. All the even remotely interesting personality traits and hobbies had already been taken and I was left at the end with nothing of my own. The only thing that made me even a little different was the fact that I could see auras and that only got me branded as a freak. I tried to do my best to forget that little difference.

I grew up some and went to school. I met Mai and Azula and things changed a little. No one else was friends with the Princess. But I knew the truth: the Princess only tolerated me most of the time, rejecting almost all of my affection. Being the little idiot I was, I only tried harder. Her singularity was new to me and it attracted me like a moth to a flame. Here was this girl who was so unique that everyone the whole world round knew who she was. It was the perfect trap for a little girl with no identity.

At the age of ten I finally discovered a special little habit that no one else had: I would eat my meals like everyone else, but I would throw it up after. I didn't (couldn't) tell anyone about this thing that made me uniquely me, but I had it for myself and that was enough. Some part of me knew it was wrong, too different, but I loved it. And even though nobody knew what was going on, they all saw that I was getting skinnier and I loved it. Nobody suspected anything was wrong because no one who smiles is sad, no one who laughs is troubled. Do you want to hear the saddest part? My only goal was to look like Azula, with her razor-sharp cheekbones and collarbones like coat hangers. As much as I ruined myself, she helped.

At this point I had to admit that I loved her. It was almost inevitable, that I fall for the one person I could never have. It was so cookie-cutter, so cliché that I hated my love. At the same time, though, I couldn't stop. She was a pinnacle of perfection that I wanted desperately in every way and the love was a sort of burning hope that I could make it there. She was my worst mistake.

I was suffocating in my too-full house with too many expectations. I was skinny pretty and still not good enough. Azula barely acknowledged me most of the time. The only time I was alive was when I was crouching over the toilet, letting everything out and just being me. I couldn't make it living my life like I was.

So I ran. My only plan was to run until I was dead, or so far away that nobody would ever find me. It was fate and dumb luck that I found the circus, and even more luck that they took me in. I must have looked horrible that night, dripping wet and worn down to bones, but they accepted me anyway. I had always been somewhat good at gymnastics, so I took a position as an acrobat. I loved it there. I learned tricks I never even knew existed. I learned to chi block, to fight, and slowly developed an identity of my own. I tried to forget my family, my friends, and my love, but never quite left behind the pink clothing of my childhood. Despite everything, I was finally feeling the happiness I had faked for so long.

Everything was almost perfect for a while. But everything flipped over again when I opened my eyes and saw those boots again.


	2. Prologue by Mai

In the Fire Nation, children are to be seen and not heard. It's the first thing you learn, growing up. Children don't have opinions or feelings. Children are no more than a status symbol until they finally reach that magic age where they become 'adults' and suddenly have a mind of their own. Children are nothing until then.

In case you can't tell, I'm a little bit bitter.

You would be, too, if you grew up like I did. Being suffocated like that was horrible, one of the worst experiences of my life. Imagine feeling like you're underwater, trying to scream to speak to BREATHE, but someone is holding you under and won't let go. The only thing that was worse was watching my friends not get treated like that. I mean, it makes sense if you think about it logically. No one was going to smother the Prince or Princess of the whole Fire Nation, and Ty Lee was so small and happy and funny that you almost couldn't stop her. But let me tell you, growing up with constant reminders that you were dull and unimportant like that wasn't much fun.

Since I couldn't do anything else, I threw myself (no pun intended) into my knife throwing. I got very good, very fast. I'm sure someone would have been impressed if they let me tell them about it. I owe a lot to my knife throwing, but it did a lot of harm, too.

When I was practicing after one particularly horrible day, I slipped. One of my stilettos caught my other arm, cutting it pretty badly. My first instinct, of course, was to run for a healer and get it fixed. But then I stopped. My cut had ceased hurting and was filling me with the strangest sense of… release? I looked at it, at the bright crimson blood and the white skin around it. Before I knew it I had another stiletto in my hand, grazing the skin of my forearm thoughtfully. I gave myself another cut to see if the same peculiar thing happened. It did. That first night I cut myself twenty three times before I finally stopped. The next day I started wearing gown that covered my hands.

From then on, whenever I would get those feelings that I had to scream, I would just cut, staying quietly in my room with my endless supply of knives. Nobody knew, and nobody would have cared if they did. The cutting was the only thing that got me through the everyday monotony of life in the capital and then in some stupid conquered city that my dad was made governor of. One night I was dangerously close to just slitting my throat and moving on, but I couldn't do it. The next day Azula showed up.


	3. Prologue by Azula

I'm sure you are all expecting me to tell you some sob story about my childhood and my missing mother and whatever else. I'm here to tell you this absolutely will not happen. I will give you a brief overview, and then you can proceed to the rest of the story. You're welcome.

I am Princess Azula of the Fire Nation. My father is Fire Lord Ozai, my mother was Fire Lady Ursa, and my useless brother Zuko is the prince. The only two worth talking about are my father and I. My mother was banished (I assume) when I was young and Zuko was born weak. When I was young I had two friends, Ty Lee and Mai. Both of them were tolerable and capable of fighting if necessary. Ty Lee ran away when we were twelve. Mai's father became Governor of Ba Sing Se, so she moved out there. Zuko was banished for being a fool and sent to look for the Avatar. Everybody assumed that this was a fruitless wild-goose chase simply meant to distract him, but then the Avatar actually appeared. After my asinine brother failed repeatedly at catching him, I was sent to do his. I gathered Ty Lee and Mai again and we departed. That is all.


	4. Together Again by Ty Lee

"Ty Lee? Could that possibly be you?" I knew it was her the second she spoke. The scorn, the false surprise, every note was Azula. I hadn't seen her in years and I had been sure she wouldn't affect me any longer. I learned, as I flipped out of my handstand and ran to give her a hug, that I was wrong.

"Azula! It is so good to see you!" I squeaked, falling back into the screen of extreme happiness I had worn for so long. Looking at her up close, though, I could see little signs of wear on my flawless princess. Her eyes didn't spark like they used to and she was getting thinner. Even worse, her usually reddish aura had spots of black in it. Things weren't well with her. Was that why she had come looking for me?

"Please don't let me interrupt your… whatever it was you were doing," Azula said, extricating herself from my arms. I folded myself into another contortion, ready to listen to what she had to say. "Tell me, what is the daughter of a nobleman doing here? Our parents didn't send us to the Royal Fire Academy for Girls for us to end up in places like this." She looked around with undisguised disgust at the place that had become my home. I tried to make myself hate her for that, but I couldn't. I looked through her eyes at the circus, seeing dirt and filth that she saw. I knew it was beneath her, but she was here. For me. I blinked my eyes, refusing to let her get to me. "I have a proposition for you. I'm hunting a traitor. You remember my old fuddy-duddy uncle?" she asked, rolling her eyes at the idea. Of course I remembered the kindly Uncle Iroh who was always so nice to me!

"Oh yeah, he was so funny!" I answered, masking my feelings like I used to. In reality, I was shocked. Azula wanted me for something? Me specifically? It was like a dream. It didn't even matter that we had to hunt down someone I was attached to like an animal. Azula had chosen me!

"I would be honored if you would join me on my mission." Azula announced, her eyes burning into mine. Everything in me said go with her. I wanted to know what was wrong with her, my beautiful burning princess. I wanted to see if she felt anything for me, after all these years. Most of all, I just wanted to be with her and make up for lost time. But then I forced myself to seriously consider it. I thought about my life before I ran away and how she had caused some of it. I thought about how much I had come to love the circus and how happy I was here. I weighed that against the infinite temptations of Princess Azula and made my choice.

"Oh, I, uh, would love to, but the truth is, I'm really happy here. I mean, my aura has never been pinker!" I chirped, trying to play down and explain the refusal. I was worried. I had never in my life seen Azula settle for less than exactly what she wanted. I started remembering all the times that people had told her no and what had happened. My indecision quickly turned to terror.

"I'll take your word for it. Well, I wouldn't want you to give up the life you love just to please me." She said. I was shocked. I never expected her to actually let me go.

"Thank you, Azula!" I managed to say. She was going to let me have my life here and leave me be! Did I still love her? Yes. Was I better without her? Absolutely. She started to walk away as I turned into another stretch.

"Of course, before I leave, I'm going to catch a shoe." She threw out over her shoulder in her airiest tone. There it was. The catch. Azula hadn't given up on getting me just yet.

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Getting ready before the show, I was terrified. At any moment Azula's punishment would come crashing down on my head. There was no telling what she would do. I had never seen Azula accept anything less than exactly what she wanted and now wasn't an exception. In the end I just took a deep breath, put on my headpiece, and started the show.

I heard the ringmaster announce her and I tensed. My judgment hammer was coming soon, I could feel it. I tried to just go through my act as usual, but then my safety net was lit on fire. It had to be her doing. I held my breath and prayed to the spirits that that was all. I have never been so wrong.

Azula appeared in my dressing after the show, just as I was changing out of my costume. She had sent flowers earlier and they were lying on my make-up table. She spoke first.

"What an exquisite show. I can't wait to see how you'll top yourself tomorrow." She praised me with a sadistic little twist to her mouth. It was then that I realized what was going on. She was going to torture me every night, worse and worse, until I finally gave in and joined her mission. The part of me that loved her was flattered, even awed, that she would put that much time into me, but I refused to get distracted. I had to remember to always be wary of Azula's traps. This time, though, I was already caught.

"I'm sorry, Azula, but I'm afraid there's not going to be a show tomorrow." I informed her nonchalantly. I didn't want to have to say that I had changed my mind, if at all possible.

"Really?" Azula asked with that voice that told you she already knew what was going on. I kept my face smooth but internally cursed myself for giving everything away.

"The universe is giving me strong hints that it's time for a career change," I explained, turning to face her. I was hoping that would be enough for her and she wouldn't make me say it. I read her eyes and found that this was not the case. I had to suffer for my disobedience and this was my punishment. I stood up straight and looked her in the eyes. If that was how it was going to be, I would not let her know how much it bothered me. "I want to join you on your mission." And if I wasn't mistaken, the black spots in her aura lessened a little.

In the carriage later that night I found out that I was not the only one. I wasn't that special to her anyway. We were going to pick up Mai from Omashu and hunt Iroh and Zuko all over the world. Even though I wasn't the only one Azula picked, I still went to bed that night thrilled that she thought of me at all. I knew that extended time with Azula was bad for me, but I just couldn't bring myself to regret my decision.

_One update a week from now on, probably Mondays. It will mostly correlate with the episodes, but if there's too big of a break between episodes I might just make stuff up. See you next week!_

_-N_


	5. Together Again by Mai

"Please tell me you're her to kill me." I deadpanned, not really joking, as Azula crossed the courtyard. She had Ty Lee with her, whom I hadn't seen in a very long time. Something was clearly up and I couldn't have been more excited. With any luck she would take me away from this hellhole in the middle of nowhere and things would get better.

Azula burst into laughter, taking my statement as joke I suppose, so I laughed with her. She even hugged me for a short time, which was very abnormal. I had never seen Azula initiate a hug in my life. I accepted it all the same, wondering what was really going on. She looked ever so slightly careworn, but you had to look close to see it. There was something just… lacking in her eyes. I was so busy studying her that I missed the first part of her sentence

"… To see you Mai." She greeted me, seeming earnest. I didn't have enough time to really consider that before Ty Lee jumped on me with one of her bear hugs.

"I thought you ran off to join the circus?" I asked when she let me go. I was legitimately confused. She had written me only once after she disappeared, telling me how much she loved it there. I would never have expected her to leave. "You said it was your calling."

"Well, Azula called a little louder." She giggled. That explained it some. It translated to mean that Azula wanted her for something and wouldn't take no for an answer, as always.

"I have a mission and I need you both." She explained. Azula needed us? Azula never needed anyone else. The longer the interview went on the stranger it got. Well, there was only one thing to do at this point.

"Count me in. Anything to get me out of this place." I answered, keeping the fervent emotion out of my tone as per usual.

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The next morning we discovered that my little brother had been kidnapped by the rebels and my father had sent them a message that he would trade their crazy king for him. Azula was furious. She berated him for allowing all of the citizen to escape the city in the throes of a fake disease and for losing Tom Tom. She ended by telling him that I would be handling the exchange so he couldn't screw it up. It was somewhat pathetic to see an adult cowering at the feet of a teenager, but it struck a chord in me. It almost felt like a kind of small retribution for all of the times he had silenced me or yelled at me. I permitted myself a small smile, running my hand over the raised lines on my wrist.

The three of us met up in my sitting room before we left, talking some strategy but mostly just catching up. Ty Lee asked me about life here and I could barely express the amount of boredom I felt. I didn't mention my new habit, just stroked my scars under my sleeve. I asked her about the circus, successfully directing the attention away from me for a while. We wouldn't say it, but Ty Lee and I were too afraid to ask Azula about her life. She just sat in an armchair a little bit away from the couches we lounged on, studying us. More than once I saw her gaze flicker down to my hands and I starting wonder how much she knew.

"Don't you ever get tired of all that extra fabric in your sleeves weighing you down, Mai?" Azula suddenly asked, sitting up in her chair and piercing me with her gaze. I straight back at her, trying to think of an excuse she would believe. Thankfully, it was only a short pause before I had one.

"I hide my knives in my sleeves, Azula, so no." I never dropped my gaze, challenging her with my eyes. She held it a little bit longer, then sat back, as though the matter was no longer interesting to her. "You were saying, Ty Lee?"

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We approached the designated trade-off point in a triangle formation. We were all armed to the teeth in case this was all a trap and the rebels attacked. A trio approached, but they weren't clad in the green I was expecting. Two of them looked like Water Tribe and the third was some style I had never seen before. They were carrying Tom Tom though, and the crazy king was held in a box attached to a chain behind us.

"Are you ready to trade?" I asked

"Yes," One of them responded

"Ah, if you don't mind Mai, I had a thought." I told her it was fine, wondering what I had done wrong already in the two second exchange. "Well, we're trading a two year old for a king and a powerful earth-bending master. It just doesn't seem fair." She looked at me. I suddenly got where she was going. My parents would be angry, but Azula would be angrier if I refused. It wasn't even a choice.

"You're right, Azula. The deal is off." I announced. Then, we attacked. The kid in the strange clothing leaped into the air and started flying around. I didn't have time to process that because I had to fight the only girl of the trio who apparently was apparently a water bender. This just got stranger and stranger. The other Water Tribe kid had disappeared, so Ty Lee came and chi-blocked her into vulnerability. I heard the earth king box come crashing down and Azula and the kid went with it. The girl jumped onto some kind of flying craft and took off into the sky, leaving Ty Lee and I standing there with heaving chests. We looked at each other and she exclaimed.

"Mai! Your arm! You're injured!" she yelled out. I looked down, feeling the small inrush of pain followed by the usual relief. I knew what had happened; the battle had opened a few of my freshest cuts. It happened sometimes, if I practiced too soon after. I had always just bandaged it myself quietly and never told anyone about it, of course. That wasn't a possibility in this situation. Ty Lee was already grabbing at my arm, trying to assess the damage. I yanked it away from her before she could see anything.

"Don't touch it." I snapped. Her face fell. "It just... hurts. I'll take care of it on my own." I explained lamely. She just looked back at me, sad and confused, just like the child I remembered. As nice as it was to have something interesting in my life again, my friends were bringing up too many memories.

I spun on my heel and marched back to my house, hiding my pain and the blood on my sleeve, with Ty Lee trailing sadly after me.


	6. Together Again by Azula

The first person I wanted was Ty Lee. She was a skillful acrobat, aura reader, and fighter. She had all but mastered the technique of chi-blocking, which stopped benders and non-benders alike. She had been talented when we were young, so when she ran I had one of the palace spies keep a watch on her. Her reports gave me confidence that Ty Lee was someone I wanted.

Since I had been watching her, I gathered her location quickly. When we were younger she had always done whatever I asked her to do exactly as I asked, so I decided to simply walk in and present my request to her.

I found her in a handstand in her a corner of her little circus. We greeted each other and I noticed that she had filled out since I last saw her and that she appeared even happier than before. I will not say that I missed the chirpy little ball of pink, but I did not dislike seeing her again.

I gave her my proposition once she had made herself comfortable again. She refused, explaining that she truly loved the circus. I felt the strangest pang of emotion, something like sadness or loss. I tamped it down and came up with a strategy to get her to come with me anyway. I left her for the time being, informing her that I would be back for a show that night. She got very nervous when I heard that. Interesting.

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That night I sat in my designated seat, apart from all of the commoners. I had a plan already set to dissuade Ty Lee from her precious circus life. The ringmaster announced me and even said that he would do anything I said to make the show more entertaining. Perfect.

"Do you think she'll fall?" I asked the ringmaster as I looked up at Ty Lee balancing on some strange contraption. He said that he thought not. "Well, wouldn't it make it more interesting if you removed the net?" I knew if things went badly at the circus Ty Lee would certainly leave and come with me. But the ringmaster showed some resistance to my idea. Well. I would suggest something even worse, then, and he would have to do it. "No, you're right, that's been done already." I conceded for a moment "What if you lit it on fire?" I suggested with a little smirk. This time the fool understood that I was not to be refused. The net was burning in an instant. I could almost feel her discomfort. But it wasn't enough. "What kind of wild animals do you have?" I asked innocently. He starting going off on some useless statistics and I cut him off "Release them all." I instructed, smirk even wider. Ty Lee would join me whether she wanted to or not.

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I sent flowers along to her dressing room, then showed up myself, congratulating her on her show and expressing interest in the next night, as a test. Her eyes were reluctant. She still didn't want to come. But the next words out of her mouth didn't fit that emotion.

"I'm sorry, Azula, but I'm afraid there's not going to be a show tomorrow." She answered sadly.

"Really?" I asked in my most innocent voice. I had succeeded. Victory was sweet, as always.

"The universe is giving me strong hints that it's time for a career change." She announced, turning to face me. I could see that she didn't want to have to admit that I had won, but hearing the loser taste the sting of defeat is always one of the best parts. She would not rob me of it. "I want to join you on your mission." She said, trying to retain her dignity. One down.

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Mai was my next target, another childhood friend I had kept my eye on. She was highly proficient in knife throwing and never betrayed confidential information. Arriving in Omashu, though, I found her to be changed for the worst since I last saw her, lacking a life in her eyes.

"Please tell me you're here to kill me." She greeted us with her characteristic flat wit. There was a little twist to this statement though, a bit of truth if I was right, and I always am. Mai was not as I left her. I had to make sure this would not turn out to be a weakness.

I laughed like it was a joke and greeted her properly with a short embrace to check for injuries. She took care with her arms, keeping them covered at all times, but that could have just been because of the knives housed there. I would investigate.

Luckily she was very interested in joining my mission. We needed a layover to truly stock up, though, so we would stay in Omashu for a time.

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When I went to examine the governor's work in the morning, I found that he had released every citizen of Omashu, gotten his child kidnapped in the process, and offered the earth king as an exchange. I made him fully aware of his incompetency and how my father would feel about this sort of thing. I renamed the city New Ozai as a show of power and instructed Mai to take care of the exchange instead so I could be involved.

We adjourned to the sitting room outside Mai's rooms, them lounging on couches and I at attention in the only arm chair. They blathered on about their boring lives for almost an hour and I studied them the whole time. Ty Lee was feeling more confident than she had when she ran away, but something was bothering her currently. Mai was even more monotone than usual and was still very careful with her arms, even though a master like her wouldn't be clumsy enough to let her blades be loose enough to slip from their sheathes on accident. It was as if she was hiding something more than blades under her long, long sleeves. It was very peculiar and I wanted to know.

"Don't you ever get tired of all that extra fabric in your sleeves weighing you down, Mai?" I asked, sitting forward to study her every movement. There was a quick flicker of panic in her eyes and a short pause before the explanation about her blades that I expected her to give. It was enough for me. She was hiding some kind of injury under her ridiculous sleeves and I had to make sure it wasn't a weakness. I directed the conversation back to whatever story Ty Lee had been telling a settled into thought.

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I had everyone arm themselves for the trade-off in case the rebels thought they could try to sneak attack us, fools that they were. A trio from the other side approached with the idiot child that forced us into this awful position. Mai was about to make the trade when I interrupted.

"Ah, if you don't mind Mai, I had a thought." I faked like I was actually asking for permission. The Fire Princess asks permission from no one. Mai told me it was fine, of course, and I pointed out how unfair the trade we were about to make was. I was subtly suggesting that we cancel the trade and I left it up to Mai as a test of her worthiness. She made the right choice and everyone sprang into battle. I left Ty Lee and Mai down with the two that were clad in Water Tribe blue and I followed the boy that had made a miraculous leap onto the structure next to us. The scarf he had been wearing on his head as a hat flew off his head when he pulled out a glider, revealing the blue arrow tattoos of an Air Nomad. Even I was surprised. Zuko had actually been right about something! The Avatar was right in front of me. I focused in, swearing that I would be the one to capture him. I swung a blast of fire at him and the earth king box, breaking the chain and sending both of them crashing down into the slide system that ran the whole city. After a chase, I lost them, returning to the governors house in a rage.

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That night I rode a palanquin out of the city with both Ty Lee and Mai at my side, gossiping about the mission. Mai had just found out the details of it. Ty Lee made some comment about seeing Zuko again. I was paying attention to Mai's reaction because I knew she had feelings for Zuko when we were and I wanted to see if they had lasted until then as another weakness of hers. She turned her head aside and smiled just a little, giving me another reason to dispose of her before the mission was over.

It was then that I announced that we would also be hunting the Avatar.


	7. On the Hunt by Ty Lee

When we got on the tank train we were going to use to chase the Avatar, I was excited.

"Look at this! There are bunk beds! I call top! Ooh, look! There's even a car for our mongoose dragons!" I had already snapped back into the overwhelming excitement act I had used for so many years. I spoke faster and higher pitched. Polite people called me bubbly. I knew I was annoying. But I didn't mind because it was the annoyance factor that kept most people from probing too deeply and that was the way I liked it.

A day in to our trip, though, tucked away in a passenger cabin that was starting to feel progressively smaller, I was less pleased. Mai was near silent, polishing her knives again and again. This, at least, was normal. Azula's silence was not. She spent most of her time instructing other people what to do, but she had not said more than three words to either of us since we boarded and let us do what we wanted. Mai would disappear into the washroom frequently and I just sat on my bunk, quiet as the rest of them.

The morning of the second day, however, Azula snapped back into herself. She commanded our attention, discussing strategies and counter-strategies nonstop. She talked through until dinner, only then pausing. She looked at both of us with that look she gets when she knows something you don't. a chill ran down my back. I knew things were about to change abruptly.

"So, ladies," she started, drawing out the suspense. "We haven't really had much time to catch up yet, have we? At least, not surrounded by spies and the such, like at Omashu." she smiled a slow smile, as if she already knew our secrets. "What would you say if I proposed a friendly game of Truth or Dare, just to shorten the process a bit."

"Truth or Dare? We're not in the Royal Fire Academy anymore." Mai answered, and I couldn't help agreeing with her. I had expected something much worse from Azula.

"Too childish? Then what do you suggest?" Azula answered, her eyes flashing. She was in a dangerous mood. Her aura, usually a deep crimson, was shot through with more black than I had ever seen before I left. It would be a bad idea for Mai to keep pushing her.

I suppose Mai picked up on the signals even without being an aura reader because she agreed to play Truth or Dare. Azula smirked at her, arranging herself on her bed.

"Who wants to go first, then? Maybe you, Mai, since you've deigned to play this childish game with us." Azula's every word was dripping with sarcasm. Only an idiot would say no.

"I'd love to go first." Mai deadpanned, pushing the limits much farther than I would ever dare to. I'm not exaggerating when I say I was worried for her life.

"Perfect. Truth or dare?" Azula had her eyes locked on Mai's, challenging her to make another move. "Just remember, I'll know if you're lying. And you won't like the consequences." The open threat only increased the tension in the room, already big enough to choke me. Mai was playing with fire, quite literally.

Thankfully, Mai slumped back on her bunk, dropping Azula's gaze. The tension diffused a little, but Azula was still on the offensive.

"Truth, I guess." The apathy had returned to Mai's tone, signaling that she was no longer interested in conflict. Azula's eyes remained sharp.

"What's wrong with your arms?" she spat out like she had the question prepared in advance. You could see the shock and fear in Mai's eyes for an instant, though she covered it quickly. Azula had struck right where she wanted to.

"Nothing is wrong with my arms. I don't know what you're talking about." She answered quickly. Azula was not satisfied with this answer.

"Prove it. Show me."

"No. I said truth, not dare." all of the sudden there was fire in Mai's eyes too, fiercely protective. There was something wrong with her arms that she didn't want us to know about. That much was clear.

"Fine," Azula turned her laser glare to me next. "Ty Lee? Truth or dare?" I couldn't tell what she wanted from me, so I chose randomly.

"Dare," I answered, sounding more confident than I felt. Azula smiled a dangerous smile. I chose wrong.

"Kiss me." My jaw dropped. I read in her eyes that this was a test, but my mind was spiraling out of control. I had loved her for years upon years. I had fantasized this moment a million times over. Azula wanted me to kiss her. I wanted to kiss Azula. Everything was falling into place. This was it.

I don't even remember getting off my bunk. All I know is I found myself sitting within inches of her, feeling her body heat. I could see every feature of her beautiful face with pristine clarity. This was the moment I had been waiting for for spirits knows how long. My breaths were coming fast and short and for a moment I was worried I would pass out before I even got to kiss her and ruin everything.

I just went for it. I pulled her into the kiss, feeling her soft, soft lips against mine, my hands in her hair and oh spirits it was the best moment of my life. I wanted to kiss her forever and I knew I still loved her and always would and none of it mattered if she would just keep kissing me.

She broke the embrace quickly though. I'm ashamed to say I was short of breath. Azula wiped off her mouth and looked away from me. Reality came crashing down on me. It was a test. She didn't care about me. I took a deep breath and went back to my bed, trying to pick up the scattered pieces of my heart. I would not cry. I would not cry, not in front of her, and if it killed me she would never know how I felt about her. That kiss was the beginning and end of our relationship and that was that. I hardened my eyes.

"What about you?" I asked. She looked at me pointedly.

"I'm not playing." She answered, so sharply that I had to wonder what she was protecting.

"Truth or dare?"

"I'm not playing."

"Truth or dare?"

"I'm not _playing_, Ty Lee. What don't you understand about that?" she spat at me, looking disgusted. I didn't want to cause trouble with her, but if she was going to abuse me like that than she sure as hell was going to play Truth or Dare.

"Come on, Azula. Won't you _deign_ to play with us?" Mai asked from the shadows of her bed, her eyes belying her casual posture. Azula looked at her, then at me.

"Fine. I will play one round. I will choose truth. Be careful." She put on her most queenly tone, like she was doing us a favor by playing. I looked at Mai, afraid to ask the wrong question. Azula's aura had only gotten darker as the night went on. She looked back at me, just as worried. Azula watched the two of us with a smile. "I'll give you a minute to think of a question." And with that she got up and walked into the mongoose dragon car. I hopped off my bed and ran over to Mai.

"What do we do?" I whispered

"We can back off and do something easy, or we can hit her hard." Mai was still shrouded in shadow. I couldn't see expression.

"Easy. Please easy." I answered fast.

"Then it's up to you." She said, motioning for me to get off her bed. I was shocked and confused. Mai had never acted like this before.

When Azula returned, I was back up on my bed and had my question set.

"Well?" she asked, look back and forth between us. I cleared my throat and she zeroed in on me.

"Your question is: what's your favorite animal?" I mumbled. I knew it was stupid. But it wouldn't get me killed. Azula just laughed at me, then announced it was time for us to go to bed.

We gained on the Avatar and his friends quickly, following a trail from his flying bison, and we caught up within a day. We had a small battle on a mountain, but they flew off quickly. We found them again the next day, or rather, a campsite they had recently vacated and stopped to look around.

"Wads of wet fur. How delightful." Mai said, plucking some of the animal fur out of a nearby river. I walked over and joined her.

"Hmm… they're not wads. They're more like bundles… or bunches? It's an uh sound." We had been keeping our dialogue fairly meaningless since the game. There was a tension on the tank train at all times and it was smothering in such a small was nice to get out in the open air where our troubles could spread out as much as they wanted. Azula had been acting nice since the incident, and her aura had been lighter, but she was still not entirely stable. I swore to myself I would apologize just as soon as I thought I could without getting my head blown off.

"Clumps?" Mai offered and it took me a second to figure out what she was talking about.

"Clumps! They're clumps!" I shouted once I understood, giving her a big hug. I was trying to be nothing more than funny, happy Ty Lee and praying that Mai, too, would forget the events of that night. She got out of the embrace, looking at the trail of fur that went into the distance.

"The trail goes this way" she pointed out. Azula, however, was looking at the trees in the opposite direction.

"The Avatar is trying to give us the slip," she announced. She pointed out the broken treetops, showing signs of a flying something flying a little too low. "You two head in that direction," she gestured towards the trees. "And keep an eye out for the bison. I'll follow this trail." She jumped onto her mongoose dragon and took off, and Mai and I did the same.

It took us a bit to catch up to them, despite the speed of our rides. I decided to take advantage of our privacy, being that it was the first time we had been alone together yet.

"Hey, Mai?" I started tentatively.

"Yeah?" she answered, sounding abstracted, still scanning the skies.

"So… about the other night…" I trailed off, not really knowing where I was going. She instinctively tensed, pulling her arms in closer, reminding me of her adamant denials. Maybe I would ask her about it. "Well… I just, uh, thought it was really weird that Azula made me kiss her. What's up with that?" I forced a laugh and glanced over at her. She looked back at me with a 'how dumb do you think I am?' kind of look. She was not impressed. "I mean it, I didn't want to kiss her!" I tried.

"I totally believe you." She deadpanned, rolling her eyes. She caught sight of the bison and took off, throwing knives at the sky and they crossed a river looking for sanctuary. The mongoose dragons just ran across the water and you could hear their gasps on the other side. I laughed. We both leaped off our steeds, Mai throwing knives before she even hit the ground. I jumped from tree to tree, focusing in on the water bending girl with a flurry of punches. Mai started shooting at the girl and I took on the guy, clearly a nonbender, knocking out his limbs within a few seconds. When I tried to head-butt him, though, I just bounced off and it hurt.

"Nice try, but no." he answered me from where he lay on the ground. He then attempted to rescue the girl, whom Mai had pinned to a tree. "How you doing?" he asked, looking at her.

"Well, you know," she answered, sounding stressed. It was actually pretty funny.

"I thought when Ty Lee and I finally caught you guys it would be more exciting." Mai said with a sigh, walking towards our prey, ready to capture them for good, when were both knocked into the river by their bison. The current was too strong to swim back, so we made our way to the opposite side.

"Was it just me, or was that guy kind of cute?" I asked in another pitiful attempt to convince her that I'm not in love with Azula. She just groaned.

_Hi all. I'm going to try very hard to keep my updates on time, but I'm back in school now so there might be some delays. Well, see you next week!_

_-N_


	8. On The Hunt by Mai

I was not interested in spending an extended period of time in close quarters with Azula and Ty Lee. It would make it easier for them to figure out my secret, which Azula was already getting too close to, even without the help. Also, Ty Lee was already starting to get on my nerves. Needless to say, I was not interested in the tank-train.

When we first got on, I swore I wouldn't cut for the entire trip. That bit the dust before six hours had passed. Azula had gone into some kind of planning hibernation, leaving me with only Ty Lee and my knives as company. It would be unfair to say that she made me cut, though. She was only part of it. Her, the already growing tension, the silence, the stress, it was just a perfect storm. Also, though I didn't like to admit it, I was already addicted to the rush. I found myself in the washroom, my wrists running red with the beautiful ribbons of blood before long.

Returning to our sleeping quarters, I started thinking about the problem that had been bothering me since I discovered our mission. Zuko. It was another thing I didn't like to admit, but I was in love with him even then. I knew that, when it came down to it, I would not be able to capture Zuko. I didn't know if I would be able to fight him at all. And I knew that would get me killed if I wasn't careful. Azula was an unforgiving master. I could not show any signs of this weakness or I would be torn to shreds. My plan was to stick with her as long as I could and try to save Zuko. He couldn't really be a traitor. Not my Zuko. So I would protect as best I could from wherever I was.

The first day passed. I polished all my blades until they could have been used as mirrors and snuck off to the washroom whenever I could. The next day was different. Azula had woken up from her coma of sorts and wouldn't stop talking, planning, instructing, commanding. Our whole strategy was set by dinner. Then she took a breath and returned to a semi-human level of functioning. She looked at Ty Lee and I with a look that was trouble with a capital T and my heart sank. That look could only mean bad news.

"So, ladies. We haven't really had much time to catch up yet, have we? At least, not surrounded by spies and the such, like at Omashu." She flicked a glance at me, like the spies were my fault, her most dangerous smile growing on her face. "What would you say if I proposed a game of Truth or Dare, just to shorten the process a bit." She looked back and forth between us like she was actually asking a question, but we all knew that Ty Lee and I would agree to whatever game she chose to propose. And I started getting angry. Who was she, to do this to us? The princess, sure, but even a princess didn't have the right to control people like that.

"Truth or Dare? We're not in the Royal Fire Academy anymore." I shot back, trying to maintain my usual tone. It was the first time I had challenged her, and maybe the first time anyone had. She shot me a look that could kill.

"Too childish? Then what do you suggest?" Azula answered in the same fake-calm tone. But she was already leaning into a battle stance, as if I was going to attack her. Ty Lee looked like she was about to cry. My rebel spirit was dying quickly in the face of her bald-faced fury. I slumped over to my bunk instead, trying to look as non-threatening as possible, and agreed to a game.

"Well, who wants to go first, then? Maybe you, Mai, since you've deigned to play this childish game with us." Azula asked, wallowing in her victory. She was challenging me, trying to rub my loss in my face. I was terrified of her, but I was still too proud to accept treatment like that.

"I'd love to go first." I answered flatly. I could tell that Azula understood the message I was trying to tell. I would not be put down. She locked her eyes on mine.

"Perfect. Truth or dare?" Azula was coiled like a spring, on the verge of attack. I was entering the danger zone again. "Just remember, I'll know if you're lying. And you won't like the consequences." The unveiled threat got me. I leaned back into the shadows, swearing I wouldn't push the limits again that night.

"Truth, I guess." I responded softly. Azula could probably do less harm with that than a dare, but she probably already had a truth ready to rip into me. She may have been a firebending prodigy, but her real specialty was weaknesses. I had no chance.

"What's wrong with your arms?" she asked, throwing the question at me like one of my own knives. I had thought I was prepared, but I was not expecting that. It took all my willpower not to instinctively clutch them to me like some kind of prize. She had found my weakness.

"Nothing is wrong with my arms. I don't know what you're talking about." I tried to answer back normally, but it came off rote and just a little too fast. I had had the conversation before. My answers were already prepared. Azula, however, was not as easily satisfied as the usual busybody.

"Prove it. Show me." She commanded.

"No." I answered before my brain caught up. "I said truth, not dare." I reasoned. I was already on thin ice. Such deliberate disobedience would not win me any points.

"Fine." That was the best I could hope for. "Ty Lee? Truth or dare?" it was horrible, but I was just happy her attention wasn't on me anymore. With my adrenaline draining away, I was realizing just how stupid I had been. Challenging Azula is like trying to move the sun: it's not going to happen and you'll probably just get killed anyway.

I was pulled out of my musings by Azula's voice, even sharper than usual.

"Kiss me." She demanded. Well, that was unexpected. Ty Lee's eyes went blank for a moment before they filled with wonder. She moved to Azula almost robotically, but there was nothing robotic about the kiss. I wasn't exactly an expert, but it looked like Azula was more into it than she would care to admit. I knew I shouldn't look, but it was like watching a train wreck: you couldn't look away. They broke apart quickly. Azula actually _wiped off her mouth_, the overstated display of disgust probably used to disguise her actual emotions. It was an interesting development.

"What about you?" a wobbly voice issued from Ty Lee's bunk, where she was looking like she was about to cry again. Azula's head snapped up.

"I'm not playing." She answered a little too quickly. The princess had her own set of weaknesses that she didn't want anybody to find. But, for once, Ty Lee wasn't playing pushover.

"Truth or dare?" she asked confidently.

"I'm not playing." Poisonous glare

"Truth or dare?" voice a little stronger

"I'm not _playing_, Ty Lee. What don't you understand about that?" Azula finally snapped. She was starting to look a little wild and unpredictable. There was something she really didn't want us to know. So, of course, I had to.

"Come on, Azula. Won't you _deign_ to play with us?" I asked sweetly, throwing her own words back in her face. It earned me another glare, but it broke her down.

"Fine. I will play one round. I choose truth. Be careful." She pulled herself together, looking like a queen again. My mind was already spinning. I could ask Azula any one question. What would it be? How can you sleep at night knowing that you're hunting down your flesh and blood? What was that kiss about? What do you think is under my sleeves? The possibilities were endless. She told us she would leave the room for one minute so that we could brainstorm and Ty Lee appeared at the edge of my bed.

"What do we do?" she whispered, glancing around like Azula was listening. I almost laughed.

"We can back off and do something easy, or we can hit her hard." I answered. I was set on the second option, but I figured I should give her some kind of choice in the matter.

"Easy. Please easy." She murmured back, her eyes full of real fear. I knew that would end our little game very abruptly, but it wouldn't cause the violence that she was probably hoping to avoid. It wasn't worth fighting.

"Then it's up to you." I shrugged and motioned for her to get off of my bed. It was probably rude, but my mind was racing in so many directions that I barely had a thought to spare for the acrobat.

When Azula returned, Ty Lee gave her some stupid question about animals. She just laughed and ordered us to bed. Of course.

In a few days, we stopped at a campsite of the Avatar and company. The trail ended there and we needed to find new leads to follow. I was over by the river with the other two.

"Wads of wet fur. How delightful." I said, picking up some of it to inspect. It definitely belonged to the flying bison we had been tracking.

"Hmm… they're not wads. They're more like bundles… or bunches? It's an uh sound." Ty Lee rambled. I wasn't really paying attention. Ever since the game I had been on high Azula-alert and the princess had walked away to inspect something else. My alarms were ringing

"Clumps?" I offered with little or no emotion. She was looking at the tops of the trees and I could almost trace her thinking.

"Clumps! They're clumps!" Ty Lee squealed, launching herself onto me. I disentangled myself quickly, thinking about her part in that evening. It had been very strange and I got more uncomfortable I got. My two best friends had essentially made out (sort of) on the bed next to mine while I watched. And since then Ty Lee had been trying to convince me that she wasn't a lesbian in the dumbest ways possible. The whole situation was ridiculous. I shook myself back to reality.

"The path goes that way." I announced, pointing at the very clear trail of fur headed off in one direction.

"The Avatar is trying to give us the slip," Azula informed us, gesturing to the path of broken trees I had seen her looking at. "You two head in that direction and keep an eye out for the bison. I'll follow this trail." She instructed before she set off along the fur path.

It took a little while to catch the bison, despite the fact that we were riding our mongoose dragons. Ty Lee decided to take the time to start up a conversation.

"Hey, Mai?" she started, seeming unsure. It could only get worse from a beginning like that.

"Yeah?" I answered reluctantly

"So… about the other night…" she tried to start. I tensed. I had been waiting for her to ask about my arms. I knew it was coming. "Well… I just, uh, thought it was really weird that Azula made me kiss her. What's up with that?" Internally I sighed in relief. Then I had to process the nonsense she was spewing. I rolled my eyes. "I mean it, I didn't want to kiss her!" Ty Lee exclaimed, like saying it louder would convince me.

"I totally believe you." I deadpanned. Then I caught sight of the bison. I starting throwing my knives and they flew across the river for safety. Little did they expect our mongoose dragons to just take off across the water. When we reached their side, I leaped off, knives already flying. Within seconds Ty Lee and I had the Water Tribe enemies incapacitated.

"I thought when Ty Lee and I finally caught you guys it would be more exciting. Oh well. Victory is boring." I acted even more bored than I was, really taunting them with their defeat. But before we could actually capture them, Ty Lee and I got swept into the river by that stupid bison. It was impossible to swim back to their side, so we struggled to the other one.

"Was it just me, or was that guy kind of cute?" Ty Lee asked as we heaved ourselves up onto the shore. She had to be kidding me.


	9. On the Hunt by Azula

I commissioned a tank-train stocked with mongoose dragons for our pursuit of the Avatar. With some research I discovered that his mount was called an air bison and he was traveling with two Water Tribe children. The group was an easy mark and it seemed expedient to capture them quickly and then move on to my traitor family members.

The tank-train was arranged in such a way that there was one compartment for the three of us to live in, complete with washroom, one for the engine and conductor, and one for the mongoose dragons. Our compartment held four bunk beds, two on each wall. I selected the bottom bunk on the right side and closest to the engine room. Mai took the bottom bunk beside mine and Ty Lee the top across from me. I could survey the entire room from my bed, even the beds of my allies. It was perfect.

I spent the first day on the tank-train in intense planning and thought. I would not have a slip-up like what had happened in Omashu. Every event would be choreographed to a fault. And when I had finished that, I started thinking about my companions. Both of them were clearly trying to hide things from me, which was unacceptable. I was fairly sure that Ty Lee's secret had something to do with a romantic affiliation to me, for some strange reason. She looked at me like Mai looked at Zuko. While I found the notion distasteful, I also recognized that it would be useful in controlling her. Mai, on the other hand, I could not figure out. I knew there was something under her sleeves, but I was not capable of getting close enough to do an actual search. Also, she went to the washroom significantly more often than the average individual did. She perplexed me.

The next day consisted mostly of informing the girls of our strategy. The plan I had concocted was so complex and considered so many alternatives that it took until dinner to explain fully. I watched them eat, quickly forming a new plan to get information from them, my smile growing.

"So, ladies. We haven't really had much time to catch up yet, have we? At least, not surrounded by spies and the such, like at Omashu." I shot a short, poisonous look at Mai. "What would you say if I proposed a game of Truth or Dare, just to shorten the process a bit." I suggested, watching their expressions to gauge their reactions. Mai's nose wrinkled ever so slightly, but Ty Lee's eyes just widened into a look of confusion.

"Truth or Dare? We're not in the Royal Fire Academy anymore." She snapped at me. I was shocked. Mild, even bland Mai was challenging me? Nobody challenged me. I was furious. But I had to retain my composure. I settled for a glare as opposed to lighting her on fire.

"Too childish? Then what do you suggest?" I answered in a tone that sounded sweet as sugar but promised immediate death. I started shifting into battle position, my eyes locking on her. I barely noticed Ty Lee, who looked absolutely terrified. At least one of them had some sense.

"Fine. I'll play." She conceded. Smart choice. Mai was racking up points very quickly and not in a good way. She was already becoming detrimental to our mission. But I knew I would keep her around until I had unraveled the mystery of her sleeves, however unprofessional it was. But that was not my focus at that time.

"Well, who wants to go first, then? Maybe you, Mai, since you've deigned to play this childish game with us." I cocked my head to the side like it was an actual question. In reality, Mai was going first no matter what.

"I'd love to go first." She answered in her usual lack-luster tone. There was even sarcasm in that, though. Mai was pushing too far.

"Perfect," I smiled sweetly, ready to pounce on her at the first sign of weakness. "Truth or dare? Just remember, I'll know if you're lying. And you won't like the consequences." I warned her. It was a clear threat, but I was beyond caring. I would make her pay for this impudence.

"Truth, I guess" Mai chose softly, trying to disappear into the shadows of her bunk. I smiled. I knew just what to ask.

"What's wrong with your arms?" I threw question at her like a bomb and it was worthwhile to see her features crumple for a second. Something was clearly abnormal. And with my threat still hanging in the air, I couldn't imagine her lying. This was it.

"Nothing is wrong with my arms. I don't know what you're talking about." Mai snapped back, her answer sounding rehearsed and tired. She lied. I couldn't believe she had chosen to lie, but she had. The secret of her arms had to be even more important than I had anticipated. I would have to wait to punish her until after I had divined the mystery that was growing more and more complex.

"Prove it. Show me." I spat in staccato phrases. She would not get away with this.

"No. I chose truth, not dare." Mai tried to cover up the fact that she had deliberately disobeyed my wishes, but of course I saw through it. There had to be something going on beyond an injured arm. There was some kind of conspiracy swirling around her, probably one to take me out. I would have to watch her even more closely.

"Fine." Having taken care of that for the time being, I turned my attention to Ty Lee. I knew exactly which weapon would pull her apart at the seams and I planned to use it.

"Ty Lee? Truth or dare?" I asked, knowing what would come next.

"Dare." She answered confidently. I knew it. Things were lining up in my favor.

"Kiss me." I instructed. Her jaw dropped and slowly her eyes filled up with an emotion that only could have been called love. I knew it. She made her way over to my bunk in a sort of trance and sat down next to me. It was entertaining to know that I had so much power over this girl simply by being myself.

She pulled me into the kiss unexpectedly, twisting her hands up into my hair. It was a strange sensation, that kiss. Instinct wanted me to pull her closer and kiss her back. My heart, what little of it I had, seemed to be getting enjoyment out of the action. My brain was screaming, half of it on red alert and the other half in some kind of paroxysm of joy. Altogether, it was not unpleasant.

So I pulled away quickly and made a show of wiping my mouth to convince the audience that I had felt nothing. Trust is for fools and I was not going to fall into a trap as ridiculous as that. I could see Ty Lee's eyes shatter and fill with tears. For some strange reason, I wanted to comfort her. I looked away and she returned to her own bunk.

"What about you?" she asked, her tone sharper than I expected.

"I'm not playing," I answered quickly. I had more than one secret of my own, not least being the feelings evoked by that kiss. Not for a thousand kingdoms would I admit to anything.

"Truth or dare?" she asked. Unbelievable. Where was everyone getting the idea that today was a good day to push the limits?

"I'm not playing."

"Truth or dare?"

"I'm not playing, Ty Lee. What don't you understand about that?" I half-shouted. She could she could be irritating at times, but she usually wasn't so persistently irritating. I didn't stop to consider that it could have something to do with our kiss. I just needed to keep calm.

"Come on, Azula. Won't you _deign_ to play with us?" Mai asked, still sitting in the shadows. It was almost like they had scripted this ahead of time. As much as I liked destroying people, I had to keep these two around a while longer.

"Fine. I will play one round. I choose truth. Be careful." I told them, making it sound like I was doing them a favor. I smiled my most threatening smile. "I'll give you a minute to think of a question." I said, turning on my heel and disappearing out the door to where the mongoose dragons were.

I could feel my thoughts clear in their cool, quiet compartment. I sat down in a clean spot on the floor, lighting a fire in my hand so that I could see. I was watching the three creatures and playing absently with my fire when I felt a sharp pain. I had burnt my finger. It wasn't the first time. I savored the pain for a moment, knowing I would have to visit the healer before the end of the night.

I returned to the living compartment in the appointed time, finding them exactly where I left them. In all honesty, I was somewhat nervous. I had warned them to be careful, but had failed to put any specific parameters on the question. I sat on my bed, not even sure where the question would come from.

"Well?" I asked expectantly, mostly to break the growing silence. Ty Lee cleared her throat. I was no longer worried. If a dangerous or probing question was going to come, it certainly would be from happy-go-lucky Ty Lee.

"Your question is: what's your favorite animal?" she mumbled, sounding very scared. I just laughed and walked out to go see the healer. When I returned, scar gone, I instructed us all to go to sleep.

That night gave me a lot to think about in silence that constituted the rest of our trip. All my thinking boiled down into two major conclusions: I had to find a way to trick Mai into showing me her arms and I had to do further research on the sensations that kiss had produced, in a purely scientific way. And thus, my planning began.

We finally reached an abandoned campsite of the quartet and spread out, searching for an indication of which way they went. There was fur similar to the trail we had been following in the river and a trail of it leading off in one direction, but I was more interested in the broken treetops heading the opposite way. They looked like a large something had smashed into them. Maybe something like an air bison tired from flying all night. It was worth investigating.

"The path goes that way." Mai informed me, as if I didn't already know. I ignored her.

"The Avatar is trying to give us the slip." I announced as if she had never spoken. I sent the pair of them looking for the bison and I followed the fake trail. Fake or not, it had to lead somewhere.

And it did. I found the Avatar himself at the end of it, sitting in the middle of a ghost town. It was perfectly set up for me to capture him. He was handicapped by his lack of sleep, so fighting would be suicide, and there was no chance of escape. My plan was perfect.

"Alright, you've caught up with me. Now who are you and what do you want?" The child called out to me in a voice that was one part petulant, ten parts exhausted. I smiled.

"You mean you haven't guessed? You don't see the family resemblance? Here's a hint" I decided I would have some fun with the Avatar before I killed him, so I put my hand over my eyes in a parody of my brother's scar and lowered my voice. "I must find the Avatar to restore my honor." I intoned. Then I dropped the act. "It's okay. You can laugh. It's _funny._" For some reason, he seemed disinclined to laugh.

"So what now?" he asked, sounding even more tired. What a cute question.

"Now? Now it's over. You're tired and you have no place to go. You can run, but I'll catch you." I threatened. The Avatar didn't crumple in defeat like I expected him to, though. Instead, he stood up.

"I'm not running." He answered like some kind of hero in a story. I almost laughed in his face.

"Do you really want to fight me?" I was incredulous. Death in a fight would be infinitely more painful than the already painful way I would kill him if he acquiesced. But then, lo and behold, in comes my traitor brother on his noble steed.

"Yes, I really do." He said dramatically. Between the two of them, they had enough bravado to choke an ostrich-horse.

"Zuko." The Avatar breathed.

"I was wondering when you'd show up, Zuzu." I spat out quickly, knocking his bravado down to zero. Even the Avatar laughed. Zuko, however, was not pleased.

"Back off, Azula. He's mine." Zuko got into his fight stance, almost like he was threatening me. _Him_, threatening _me_. It was preposterous. It was unacceptable.

"I'm not going anywhere." I answered, getting into my own stance. The Avatar took a minute to notice what was going on, but he got into his stance, too. Then the battle began.

I attacked Zuko first, but then the Avatar tried to fly away and escape. I shot him out of the sky, then chased him across the rooftops. I tried to pounce on him, but Zuko got in the way and I was forced into close combat with him for a period of time. Then the Avatar ducked into one of the abandoned house and I followed at top speed, almost falling a few stories in a house with no floor. Being as clever as I am, however, I managed to avoid it. Darling Zuzu, however, fell right in. I would have laughed if the Avatar wasn't on the move again. I dismissed Zuko with one final blast of fire, focusing in on the sneaky little child.

I got him into a burning house, trapped under some rubble, and was about to make the kill. Then someone tried to waterbend me and I spun around to see the little water-wench had come to rescue her little friend. She freed him before I could stop her, but I was going to kill her before she got too far anyway. She was in my grasp, almost close enough to snap in half, when her half-wit brother joined the attack. My easy pick-up of the Avatar had turned into a full-on brawl. It was the fault of Mai and Ty Lee, because they should have taken care of the peasants. My whole plan was falling to bits. Before I knew, Uncle and the little earthbender had appeared and they were all backing me into a corner. There was only one thing to do. I put my hands up.

"Well, would you look at this," I sneered. "Enemies and traitors all working together." With my distaste unarguable, I started to lie for my life. "I'm done. I know when I'm beaten. You got me. A princess surrenders with honor." As I expected, they were shocked by my white flag. Taking advantage of that, I shot a concentrated blast of my fire at Uncle's heart. They all attacked at once and I was gone before the smoke cleared.


	10. A Big Mess by Ty Lee

A few days passed after the fight. The three of us started to grow together again, despite that stupid game, by sheer force of spending every waking minute together. If we had stayed on that tank-train chasing the Avatar forever, we would have been just fine. But Firelord Ozai decided that the tank-train was "ineffective" and transferred the three of us to the drill that had been created to break the wall of Ba Sing Se. I had mixed feelings about it. The tank-train was starting to get really small, but in the drill we would be surrounded by crew members and have no privacy. Plus, Azula was actually starting to talk to me again instead of just looking at me with the look she gets when she's planning something. We were still shipped off, with or without my blessing.

Our sleeping arrangements were pretty much the same as they were. We got a room with a bunch of bunks and a bathroom. Since we were high-priority guests, we got the room to ourselves, thank the spirits. This time, however, Azula chose the bunk next to me on the top instead of the one below it. I tried not to let myself read into it too much, despite the fact that it sent my heart racing to know our heads would be right next to each other every night. It was probably just a strategy of hers. She did give me one of her calculating looks after she put her stuff down. It probably meant nothing.

"This drill is a feat of scientific ingenuity and raw destructive power…" some war minister was blathering on about his drill. I had better things to do. I had been put in charge of the periscope to watch for any threats. Using the periscope had put me at Azula's right hand, a position she had chosen for me. Her sudden involvement with me had my head spinning. It was all I could do to focus on the periscope. I scanned the perimeter and found something that definitely was not supped to be there.

"What about those muscle-y guys down there?" I asked in my super-peppy voice. I was still acting cheery beyond belief to hide everything that was actually going on with me. The war minister batted me away from the periscope. I looked at Azula to yell at him, but she did nothing. She was acting very strange.

"Please. The drill's metal shell is impervious to any earthbending attack." He scoffed. Now Azula looked at him warningly, but she spoke in her sweetest voice.

"I'm sure it is, War Minister Ching, but just to be on the safe side," Azula sucked up to the old man, then turned to Mai and I. "Mai and Ty Lee, take the earthbenders out." She commanded us. Mai got up off her chair on Azula's left happily enough.

"Finally, something to do." She complained. I said nothing and followed her out of the room.

A few minutes later, we found ourselves sliding down the side of the drill on ropes. One of the earthbenders tried to attack me, but I simply jumped over him and then preceded to chi-block him into uselessness. A flurry of punches and kicks and I had taken down the entire team. We rappelled ourselves back into the drill and it was over.

I sat back down at my periscope, but neither of them joined me. Being on watch was fun, but the company of the old soldiers got on my nerves quickly. Most of them looked like they had never laughed in their lives. And anyway, I had to go to the bathroom. Somebody else could be on watch for a little bit. I hopped off my chair and left the main room.

The door wasn't locked so I just went in. looking back, I probably should have knocked first. Instead I just went strolling in, whistling. Then I stopped short. Mai was standing over the sink, expressionless, while her arm bled like crazy. It took her a minute to notice me, but I rushed to her side, looking for some kind of bandage.

"Mai! What's wrong? Are you hurt?" I shouted, panicking and probably sounding like an idiot. I knew she was hurt. At the time, though, I just grabbed for her arm to figure out what was wrong. She yanked it away. The only thing I saw was a series of cuts nearly to her elbow. It didn't make sense. Earthbenders couldn't have done that.

"What do you think you're doing?" she hissed at me, sounding furious. She struggled to cover up her still-bloody arm without getting anything on her dress. It wasn't going well. She jerked the sleeve and something silvery fell off the sink. I grabbed it before she could and my heart dropped. It was one of her knives. A knife that could make a series of cuts very easily. There was even a bit of blood on the edge. I swallowed.

"Please tell me this isn't what I think it is." I whispered. My voice caught in my throat. Her arm now hung bare at her side and I could see the pattern of scars that made its way up her arm. Mai was harming herself on purpose and this was not the first time. This was why Azula kept asking about her arms. This was why she had gotten so defensive. It all fell into place. She wasn't answering me. I didn't need her to. She simply looked at me with dead eyes, not one flicker of emotion within. I was terrified. I just didn't understand why. So I asked.

"You couldn't possibly understand." She answered quietly, bitterly. Her expression never changed. I had seen that expression before. It was what my face looked like whenever I was alone. I did understand. She did it because she was desperate for something. I didn't know what her something was, but it didn't matter. I looked straight into her dead eyes.

"I'm not going to tell Azula," I told her. She seemed pleased. "On one condition: this stops now." She glared at me. But her hands were tied. Spirits know what Azula would do to her if she found out. And so Mai finally nodded her consent. I was about to hug her, but then I realized what a mess her arm was. I just walked out instead, leaving her to clean herself up.

Azula had returned and I took my place next to her. Mai joined us a few minutes later and I caught a glimpse of white bandages under her sleeve. I tried to look at her but she refused to meet my eye. I turned back to my periscope, trying to act normal.

"Hey, look at that dust cloud! It's so..." I tried to think of what I would say on a normal day. "Poofy! Poof!" I finished, even making a poofy motion with my hands. Perfect. Azula, however looked less than pleased.

"Don't worry, Princess," the War Minister responded quickly. "I'm sure it's nothing." He smiled at her, but a fool could tell she wasn't buying it. I wasn't, either. He just continued on with his duties, making an announcement about how we had made contact with the wall. Then the reports started coming in.

"War Minister! An engineer has been ambushed! His schematics were stolen!"

"War Minister! A brace on the starboard side has been cut clean through! It's sabotage, sir!" if looks could kill, Azula would have just put the War Minister on his pyre*.

"Let's go, ladies." She spat, standing up, and both of us followed quickly. Once we left the room, she stopped us. "It's the Avatar and his friends down there, I'm sure of it. Be ready." Then she led us through the drill to the outer shell, right where the soldier had said the brace was cut through. Sure enough, there they were. Azula sent a blast of fire their way and made them look up. It was banter time.

"Wow, Azula, you were right! It is the Avatar! And _friends_." I said, throwing a flirty glance at the boy to prove, once again, that I was straight. I could almost hear Mai rolling her eyes. But the boy waved right back at me, just as flirtatiously. It took me off guard a little. Then his sister pulled him away and I refocused on the battle.

"Follow them. The Avatar is mine." Azula ordered, running off in the opposite direction. The Water Tribe kids ran straight to the slurry pipe as an escape. Mai and I paused at the lip, looking down into the mud. I kept looking at her arm and she kept moving it away. I did see her hold it out from her body some, now that I knew what was going on. It was a strange little secret.

"Ugh, disgusting." Mai commented, jarring me back to the present.

"Come on, you heard Azula. We have to follow them." I glanced surreptitiously at her arm to remind her that she didn't have much leeway with Azula right now. She didn't even notice.

"She can shoot all the lightning she wants at me. I am not going in that wall sludge juice. Ugh." She answered. I just shrugged and shot down into the pipe. I had a bad feeling she would regret that move.

I was about to shoot out the exit pipe right next to the Water Tribe kids when the waterbender stopped up the exit. I was pretty much stuck in a big slurry plug. Not much fun.

"Why don't you try blocking my chi now, circus freak!" she shouted up at me. Circus freak. The name brought back a lot of memories and none of them were good. My family, my 'friends', various political bigwigs, everyone had called me that in absolute disgust. My face fell, but she didn't even notice because she was too busy squabbling with her brother.

I don't even know how long I was in there. The waterbender was joined by an earthbending friend. Eventually, the drill blew. I was exploded out of my little ball and directly into a giant pool of the muck. I was starting to think Mai had the right idea, no matter the punishment. Then she popped her head out of a little porthole in the side of the machine.

"We lost." She announced and I could hear myself rolling my eyes.

_**I'm so sorry this took me so long. I've barely had time to breathe lately, much less write. I hope this lives up to your expectations after the long wait. –N**_

_***in the Fire Nation, the burn their dead on platforms called pyres**_


End file.
